


Find-A-Boyfriend Ball

by ashfalldown



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, I made trina a pushy mother forgive me, M/M, Prince Geno, also they're younger than present day, brief mentions of other pens, idk im sorry, like 21 and 22
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-03 10:09:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1740839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashfalldown/pseuds/ashfalldown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Evgeni of Russia is less than enthusiastic about the idea of travelling the world, throwing parties to find a suitable partner, but his mother and father insist, and, well, they are his King and Queen.<br/>When Sidney Crosby receives an invite to one such party, he is even less enthusiastic to attend. But, while his mother might not be a Queen, she's just as hard to say no to. Reluctantly, he shows up at the Ball, and finds a small, out-of-the-way table to hide behind until it's acceptable for him to leave.<br/>Prince Evgeni, however, has different plans. As soon as he set eyes on him, he thought that maybe Sidney Crosby could be the first interesting person he's met this whole time, and he's determined to win him over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> based on this one thing 
> 
>  
> 
> [ here ](http://crosbye.tumblr.com/post/87751976385/sidney-crosby-is-invited-to-attend-prince-evgeni)

“Zhenya.”

Geno turned from his seat by the window and saw his mother approaching, a disapproving look on her face. He sighed, returning his attention to the window as he stared out over the courtyard. It wasn’t his courtyard, but it was snowing outside, and for a minute he could almost pretend that he was at home.

He’d never minded these royal tours before. His parents had always done this, travelling the world every couple of years, he supposed just to remind the world leaders who they were, or something. Truthfully, he’d never paid a lot of attention to the purpose of the tours, but he was sure as hell paying attention this time. This time, it was about him – more specifically, it was about finding him an acceptable partner, now that he was ‘of marrying age’. To say that he was unexcited would be a gross understatement.

“Father and I looking for you,” his mother continued. Her English was considerably better than his, thanks to all her travel, but she still maintained a thick Russian accent. Geno felt a sharp pang of homesickness. His mother stared down at him expectantly, like she was waiting for an explanation.

“Found me,” he replied unhappily, not turning to look at her.

“Zhenya.” His mother’s voice softened as she sat down beside him. She stroked his hair softly. “Something the matter?”

“Fifth country,” he began, frowning. “Five countries we go to, always same. Rich boys, boring boys, no...” He searched for the English word. His parents preferred him to speak English away from home, claiming that he needed the practice for when he was King. “Personally,” he tried, though it sounded wrong.

“Personality,” Natalia corrected, laughing gently at his mistake. She sighed. “We spoke about this. Father and I, we worry.”

“No need,” Geno told her. “I’m okay.”

“Not just for you, Zhenya. For Russia. Your father was married at your age, his father before that... You need somebody.”

“I’m not enough?” Geno asked petulantly. “Not enough for Russia?”

Natalia smiled tolerantly. She felt like they’d been having the same argument since the day they left. She placed a hand on his cheek, turning his face towards her.

“Evgeni, you are plenty,” she told him. Geno scowled. He hated when she used his full name. “But Russia, too much for you. You need somebody. Support, Zhenya. Important for you.”

“Like you do for Papa?” he asked.

Natalia snorted. “Like your Papa does for me.”

The corners of Geno’s mouth quirked at that.

“Oh, Zhenya, my Zhenya,” Natalia sighed as she stood. “Promise me you’ll try tonight. Really try. Who knows,” she said, swooping down to kiss the top of his head softly. “Maybe you find a nice Canadian boy.”

“Sure,” Geno muttered moodily as he returned his attentions to the snow. “Maybe pigs fly, too.”

Natalia laughed, smiling fondly as she looked down at him. No matter how old he got, and despite the fact that they were trying to find him a husband, he would always be her little boy. All she wanted from this tour was to find a boy who would take care of him when she and Vladimir were no longer around.

“Be ready by seven,” she told him, kissing his hair again before making her way down the hallway.  

* * *

* * *

 

“Sidney.”

Sid opened one eye. His mother stood in the doorway of his bedroom, glaring over at where he was stretched out on his bed.

“Mom,” he answered, like he had no idea what could possibly be causing her to glare at him.

“ _Sidney_ ,” she repeated, more seriously.

“ _Mom._ ” He knew he was pushing his luck, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Get dressed,” she told him, using her best no-nonsense tone. “Or you’ll be late.”

“I’m not going,” he told her.

“Like hell you’re not.” Trina strode into the room, straight across to his closet. “Tonight is a very big deal,” she said, her voice muffled as she rummaged through his clothes. “And you are going to be there.”

Sid stared despondently at his ceiling. He suddenly felt a great surge of sympathy for his mother’s business partners, who had to deal with this on a regular basis.

“Sidney,” Trina said gently, trying a different approach. Sid felt the mattress shift when she sat down, but didn’t turn to face her. “This is an amazing opportunity.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sid agreed sarcastically. “Definitely. The opportunity of a lifetime. The chance to impress a guy I’ve never met, and have no interest in ever impressing. How could I pass that up?”

“ _That guy_ ,” Trina said, exasperated. “Is the Prince of Russia. If you manage to impress him, you could have a crown within the year.”

“I don’t want a crown,” Sid complained. “I don’t want to marry the Prince of Russia, I don’t want to go tonight, I don’t want anything to do with that ridiculous ball. And besides, what kind of a Prince needs to go around throwing balls everywhere anyway?”

“ _Sidney,_ ” Trina admonished. “You’re going tonight; end of discussion.”

“Don’t you mean ‘we’re’ going tonight?” Sid muttered. He didn’t expect his mother to pass up the opportunity to fawn over the royals, and offer her son up as a sacrifice to the great Prince Evgeni of Russia. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

“I think you’re old enough to do these things on your own, don’t you?”

Sid looked over at her with barely concealed surprise. She was being serious.

“Old enough to find my own boyfriend, anyway,” he said under his breath.

“Well if you’d been able to do that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” she said, smiling sweetly. “Now get dressed. Wear that,” she told him, pointing over to a dress bag hanging on the closet handle closest to him. “And take the other one for later. They’ll expect you to change after the dinner.”

Sid sighed, defeated. There was no arguing with his mother when she had set her mind on something, and she’d been set on this ever since the invitation had arrived. Addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Crosby, it had _cordially invited_ their son Sidney to join the good Prince at his ridiculous ‘find a royal boyfriend’ party. Sid had rolled his eyes, his father had been completely disinterested either way, but his mother, well... she’d taken the idea and run with it.

“Get dressed, Sidney,” she said warningly as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

It took him half an hour to get ready. His mother was waiting at the bottom of the stairs as he left his room, jangling the car keys in her hand.

“You don’t have to drive me,” he complained as he descended. Going to this thing would be bad enough, but having his mother drive him there would make it worse. “I think I can manage to find the place.”

“I’m sure you could,” his mother said. “I’m just not sure that you’d actually make it there.”

She narrowed her eyes at him like she knew what he was thinking. He admitted, the thought had crossed his mind more than once while he was getting ready, but dealing with a bunch of stuffy Russians for a night seemed infinitely preferable to dealing with his angry mother.

“I’m going,” he told her. “I told you that I would, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” she said slowly. “You also said that you’d rather stick forks in your eyes, the first time I brought it up. And every time since.”

“ _Mother,_ ” he groaned. “I’m going. I promise, I’m going. I’ll even call you when I’m there, and you can talk to all the Russians you like to make sure I’m actually there. Just please, don’t make me show up driven by my mom.”

She thought his words over.

“Fine,” she said eventually, handing the keys over. “But I will be asking around, and if you’re lying to me, Sidney Patrick Crosby, so help me you will regret it.”

“I’m sure I will,” he said, kissing her on the cheek on his way out the door.

She caught his hand as he passed her. “Make an effort, Sidney,” she implored before he could leave. “Please. I worry about you.”

He gave her a smile. Underneath it all, he was sure that his mother was only doing what she thought was best for him. After all, as far as son-in-laws went, you could do a lot worse than Russian princes. It was just, sometimes she was more than he could handle. And with his father away on business, there was nobody else for her to focus her attention on.

“I’ll try,” he told her.

“Have fun,” she called from the doorway, as he headed for the car.

Yeah, right, he thought as he pulled out of the driveway. Like that was an option. The best he could hope for was getting in and out of there without drawing too much attention, and then leaving as soon as he possibly could.


	2. 2

Geno watched his reflection in the mirror as he adjusted his suit for what felt like the millionth time. He wondered again where all of the suits kept coming from. Everywhere they stayed, there were new, uncomfortable suits to wear, much to his displeasure. If he was going to be forced through tedious nights like these, he would have at least liked to be able to wear his own clothes, but of course his requests had been refused.

 _Presentation, Zhenya,_ his mother’s voice echoed around his head. _Very important._

Everything was important, he thought bitterly, fastening his tie a little too tightly. Presentation, making a good impression, finding a partner. Everything was important, except for what he wanted.

He smoothed down his jacket as he thought. It wasn’t that he was exactly opposed to finding somebody. Sure, he got lonely, just like anybody else, but the kinds of boys he’d been meeting on this ‘royal tour’ were hardly appealing. All the rich, boring, well-connected boys and their parents had made this whole ordeal feel more like choosing a pet than somebody to spend the rest of his life with, and he had more than enough pets already.

“Prince Evgeni?” One of the servant girls stuck her head through the door nervously.

“What?” he asked rudely. Guilt rippled through him at the look on her face. “Sorry,” he apologised. “Bad mood.”

“It’s okay.” She gave him a small, nervous smile. “It’s fine. Your, um, your mother wanted me to tell you that they’re about to open the doors. I can tell her you’re not ready, if you want,” she offered quickly.

He shook his head. “No, thank you. Be there soon.”

“I’ll let her know,” she said quietly, shooting him an apologetic glance as she left, as if it was her fault that he was being put through this.

As the door swung shut behind her, Geno found himself missing Russia. Again. He liked the staff better in Russia, he thought as he left the room. Canadians were friendly, but the Russians felt more like family.

“You ready?” Natalia asked as he descended the stairs.

“Sure,” he replied unenthusiastically as he took his place beside her at the foot of the staircase.

She pursed her lips at his obvious lack of enthusiasm, but nodded to the servants to open the doors.

“Be nice,” she said under her breath as the first of the crowd began to enter. “Smile.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as parents and sons alike marvelled at the magnificence of the place, like they’d never seen a building before. The smile on his face grew heavy as the crowd were herded past him and his parents towards the dining room. He didn’t miss all the necks that craned his way, trying to get a better glimpse at him as they were rushed past.

Geno looked sullenly up at his mother as the last of the attendees made their way out of the entryway. She returned his look with a stern, don’t-mess-this-up glare that wasn’t to be argued with, and led the way towards the dining room without a word.

His father shot him a sympathetic look as they trailed behind her, but Geno knew better than to think of him as an ally in this situation. He was yet to meet a man who was willing to defy the wishes of Natalia Malkin – himself and his father included. Geno stopped briefly in the doorway of the dining room and sighed, resigned to his fate. He replaced his smile and followed his parents inside, nodding acknowledgements at everyone trying desperately to catch his eye.

Once they had taken their seats, Natalia stood to address the room.

“On behalf of myself, and my husband, and of course our Evgeni,” she began. “We wish to thank you all for coming. Many good boys in Canada, and our son would be very lucky to have any of you.” Geno resisted the urge to groan.

“Now please,” Natalia continued. “Eat. Enjoy.”

Servers poured out of the kitchen as soon as she had taken her seat, setting down plates in front of the guests as Geno tried to determine the least obvious way to fake a medical emergency.

He hated the dinner part of these parties the most. Between the second and third courses, the attendees were brought up to the long table at the front of the room, where Geno and his parents sat. There, they would be announced by one of the officials, and make their way across to the table. The parents almost always led the way, dragging their sons behind them. Once they reached the table, they wasted no time in gushing about how great it was to be there, and what an honour it had been to receive an invitation, and hey, did they know that their son so-and-so was studying something Geno didn’t care about at a university he’d never heard of.

And of course, while the parents were doing that, their sons stood behind them, making eye contact with Geno like their moms and dads weren’t trying to pimp them out to the royal family. Some of the boys seemed okay, but most were too enthusiastic for his liking, but they weren’t the worst of the lot. The worst boys were the ones who stood with a cold and calculating look in their eyes, sizing him up like a business deal to be brokered. He hated feeling like he was just a prize to be won.

Natalia nudged him gently, giving him a disapproving look as a boy he’d already forgotten the name of left with his parents. She could tell that he’d stopped paying attention, but Geno had met more than enough Canadian boys tonight, and not one of them was any different from the others.

“Don’t be rude,” she hissed, as the announcer took the next boy’s name.

Geno turned and rolled his eyes so that only she could see, but when he turned back around, his fake smile was back in place.

“Sidney Crosby,” the announcer called, his voice ringing out as the boy walked over to the table.

The first thing Geno noticed was the absence of any parents. Sidney Crosby was alone. The second thing he noticed was that Sidney looked just about enthusiastic to be there as Geno felt. There was something strangely comforting about that.

“Sidney,” Natalia said kindly when the boy reached them. “Here alone?”

“Um, yes, Your Highness,” Sidney replied, politely. “My father is away, and my mom thought it was best for me to come alone.”

“Well that’s wonderful,” Natalia said, giving Sidney a wide smile. “Thank you for coming.”

She looked over at Geno, who was staring dumbly at the space Sidney occupied. He jumped as she jabbed him sharply in the ribs, bringing him back to reality. He offered his hand, and Sid gave him a polite smile as he shook it.

“Nice to meet you,” Sidney said.

Geno looked up at him properly for the first time, and found himself staring into a pair of very pretty hazel eyes. Best of all, he thought as he assessed the Canadian, there was nothing in those eyes that seemed to be sizing him up as an asset. In fact, Sidney Crosby looked a little bored, and for some reason, that only made Geno like him more.

He gave Sidney a genuine smile, his first of the night. His first of the entire royal tour, actually. He could feel his mother turning to him in surprise as he shook Sidney’s hand.

“You too,” he said, which was more than he’d said to all of the other boys combined. “Thank you for coming.”

Sidney gave him another polite smile as Geno released his hand.

“Crosbys very good family,” Natalia muttered conspiratorially, watching her son watch the Crosby boy walk away. Geno pretended not to hear, but she noticed the tips of his ears going red, and smiled to herself as the next boy was announced.

Geno found the rest of the meetings were a lot easier to get through, now that his mind kept returning to the images of deep hazel eyes ingrained in his brain. For the first time, he found himself not completely detesting the idea of the royal ball.

* * *

* * *

 

Sid waited impatiently with the rest of the crowd. The doors of the mansion that the royals were staying in remained firmly closed, and they had been firmly informed that they would stay as such until exactly seven o’clock. He sighed, searching for a familiar face. He knew that at least some of his friends were coming tonight, which took the pain out of the night a little. He just had to find them.

As he looked around, he noticed that all of the boys stood with their parents, and suddenly found himself regretting the fact that he hadn’t brought his mother with him. He didn’t have time to reflect on that, however, as the doors were finally opening. He lost himself in the crowd as they entered, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes as everybody surrounding him marvelled and gaped at the architecture as if they’d never seen a mansion before. As if most of them didn’t have their own mansions, in fact.

He recognised the King and Queen from their previous visits, but as they walked past the royals on the way to the dining room, he had to admit that he was interested to see what the Prince looked like. To be honest, he had kind of expected him to have some sort of hideous defect, given that they had to throw parties to find him a boyfriend, but from what he could see – which admittedly wasn’t a lot, Prince Evgeni was normal looking. Tall, but normal looking.

Once they were in the dining room, Sid managed to locate people he knew. The seating plan had apparently been designed so that the parents weren’t sitting with their children, and Sid was pleased to find that he was seated with friends.

“I didn’t think you were coming,” Pascal said as he approached, not bothering to hide his surprise.

Sid sighed. “I tried not to,” he muttered as he took his seat.

James grinned from across the table. “I knew you were. There’s no saying no to your mom, Crosby.”

“At least he tried to say no, Nealsy,” Kris teased. “You practically jumped at the opportunity.”

“Me, what about you?” James retorted. “If you RSVP’d any quicker you would have gone back in time.”

Kris shrugged, unashamed. “My parents want me to have prospects.”

“Hot Russian prospects,” Flower added, smirking.

“Well, I’m just here for the open bar,” Pascal said with a grin.

The table laughed and broke into small talk.   

Sid looked towards the front of the room, where Queen Natalia was making a speech.

“So what’s his deal anyway?” Sid asked, looking over in the Prince’s direction.

Their table was too far away to make out the finer details of his face, but he was pretty sure his earlier assessment of Prince Evgeni as a normal looking guy was right. He looked over at Flower who, as a Senator’s son, was almost certain to have more information than any of the others.

Flower shrugged as the waiters began serving their food.

“I don’t know much,” he said. He had the entire table’s attention now. “Just that he’s of marrying age, and his parents want him to find a partner sooner rather than later. There’s a lot of rumours about the King stepping down soon, but obviously they want the Prince to have a partner first.”

“So if we marry the Prince, we could be King of Russia?” Kris asked.

Flower shrugged. “I guess.”

“Please,” Pascal said. “Like he’d choose any of you when I’m an option. Say hello to the future King of Russia.”

Their table erupted in laughter, earning them a few unimpressed glares from the tables nearby. They stifled their laughter with some difficulty, relaxing back into conversation about nothing in particular as they ate. Eventually, the announcement was made that all of the guest would now be able to meet the royal family, and to please form an orderly line as directed by the staff.

Sid hung back as the other boys went off to find their parents and join the rapidly growing line at the side of the room. He was in no hurry to meet the royals. He ambled over slowly once the line started moving, relieved to see that ‘meeting’ the royal family seemed to include nothing more than a simple hello and a handshake before you were done.

He glanced down at his phone while he waited, trying to figure out how long it would be before he could leave without being branded as rude. He figured he could meet the Prince, stay for dessert, spent fifteen, _maybe_ twenty minutes at the party, and then make his escape. His bed was calling to him already. He fiddled with his phone as the line moved, until suddenly he found himself at the front.

“What’s your name?” The announcer asked, in a crisp, businesslike tone.

“Uh, Sidney. Crosby.”

The announcer looked over his shoulder, as if he was expecting someone to join them. “No parents?”

Again, Sid regretted leaving his mother at home. “No,” he said. “Just me.”

The announcer gave him a nod, before announcing him loudly.

“Sidney,” Queen Natalia greeted him. Beside her, King Vladimir gave Sid a smile, but it was obvious to everyone that this was the Queen’s night. “Here alone?”

“Um, yes, Your Highness,” he replied. His mother would never let him hear the end of this. She would no doubt find out that she was the only mother not at the royal boyfriend ball and tear his head off about the fact. “My father is away, and my mom thought it was best for me to come alone.”

“Well that’s wonderful,” the queen said, giving him a smile. “Thank you for coming.”

She looked over at Prince Evgeni, who was staring at Sid with an odd expression on his face. Self-consciously, Sid wondered whether he had food on his face, or something. The prince jumped as his mother elbowed him in the ribs, not subtle enough for Sid not to notice, and held out his hand.

Sid gave him a smile, and tried his best to look like he didn’t notice how big the prince’s hand was, or the way it enveloped his completely. He still had no interest in being here, he told himself. No interest at all.

“Nice to meet you,” Sid said. The prince looked up at him, and Sid found himself staring into warm, brown eyes. He definitely had no interest in being here. Prince Evgeni gave him a smile that didn’t seem forced, and as he did the almost pained expression he’d been wearing earlier vanished.

“You too,” he said. Sid was surprised at how deep and... _Russian_ his voice was. “Thank you for coming.”

Sid gave him one last smile and walked away, still feeling the warmth of that handshake crawling along his skin. He still planned to leave the party early, but somehow knowing that Prince Evgeni was actually good looking – really good looking, in fact, made the whole night seem less like a waste of time.


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this is mostly just filler and stuff) (sorrrrrry)

After the dessert course was over, all of the parents were asked to leave. They had had their chance, done all they could, and now it was up to their sons to impress the Prince.

* * *

 

Sid had forgotten his other suit. Or, well, not so much as ‘forgotten’, as ‘left in the car and saw no point going to get it’. He had, however tucked a spare tie inside his jacket before he’d left the house, and changed it slowly while the others went off to change suits.

He lingered in the hallway for awhile, before heading into the ballroom. The sooner he entered, he figured, the sooner he could leave. He headed for a small table towards a window at the back of the room, which was out of the way enough to hide at once the room was full. He took a seat and waited for the others to join him, which turned out to be sooner than he’d expected.

“Did you change?” Kuni asked as he sat down.

“I changed my tie,” Sid said, and James laughed.

“Classic Sid,” he said as he and Flower took their seats. “Duper’s at the bar,” he explained as Sid noticed their group was one member short.

“Ah,” Sid grinned, unsurprised. “Of course.”

Pascal appeared suddenly, almost as if talking about him had summoned him.

“You didn’t change?” he asked as he sat down beside Sid.

Sid shrugged as he took one of the drinks Pascal had set down. “There’s no point changing if I’m just going to leave soon.”

 “Fair point,” Pascal said, as the others claimed their drinks and fell into conversation.

* * *

 

Geno practically ran to his room, and changed into his second suit faster than he’d thought was humanly possible. He glanced in the mirror and ran his hands through his hair quickly, not sure whether he was trying to mess it up or flatten it, just wanting _something_. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He didn’t want to scare Sidney off. The boy barely even wanted to be there tonight, and acting like a nervous wreck wasn’t going to help him want to stay. He took another, deeper breath and left the room, fighting to stay casual as he headed down to the ballroom.

All the guests were already inside, waiting for him to arrive, and he hated the thought. This part of the night had always gone the same in the other countries, all of the boys he couldn’t stand circling him like sharks as soon as he stepped into the room. They started rattling off their achievements, trying to impress him so that he’d decide to spend time with them. He sincerely doubted that this time was going to be any different.

Except that it would be different this time, he reminded himself. He adjusted his bowtie nervously, and nodded at the servants to open the ballroom doors. This ball had something that none of the others had had. This ball had Sidney Crosby.

* * *

 

Geno strode confidently into the ballroom. As he’d predicted, the second he stepped into the room, the boys headed straight for him, but he barely even noticed that they were there. His eyes scanned the room purposefully. He smiled to himself as he found who he’d been searching for, blazing a trail through the boring Canadians as he headed straight for the small table by the window in the back.

Somewhere between the doorway and Sidney’s table, his confidence disappeared. For anybody who hadn’t been looking for him, Sidney would have been impossible to find. He was tucked away at the smallest table in the back, mostly hidden by the large obnoxious plants that lined the edges of the ballroom. Anybody else would have missed him, but Geno couldn’t see anything else.

Sidney sat with four other boys, none of whom Geno could remember the name of. One of them might have been the son of a politician, or something – he looked _almost_ familiar, but that was all Geno could have told you about them. His focus lay solely on Sidney. He was smiling – laughing at something that one of the others had said. His laughter drew Geno’s attention down to his mouth, and his gaze lingered there longer than it had to. His lips were obscene, Geno thought, struggling to keep his thoughts clean. His mouth was dry as he came to a stop beside the table.

“Hi,” he said, swallowing nervously. The other boys were staring at him with a disbelief and confusion, but he was only interested in one. The one who wasn’t looking at him. “Sidney.”

Sidney looked up at him, his hazel eyes boring into Geno with surprised interest. He hadn’t thought the Prince had been here to talk to him.

“Your Majesty,” he said respectfully. He was trying, and failing, to understand why Prince Evgeni was talking to him, out of all the people here. He could _feel_ the jealous looks being thrown his way.

“Please,” Geno said. He hated all of the ‘Your Majesty’ stuff, and besides, he wanted to hear what his name sounded like coming out of that mouth. “Evgeni.” He gave Sid a shy smile. “Geno.”

“Uh, sure.” Sid gave him a baffled smile. “Geno.” He looked over at the others, confused, but none of them seemed to understand what was happening anymore than he did.

Except maybe James. He shot Sid a sly grin, and cocked his head at the others. They followed him away from the table, giving Sid conspiratorial grins, and offering Geno small smiles and bows as they left them alone.

Geno lowered his lanky frame into the seat beside Sid.

“Good night Sidney?” Geno asked, breaking the strange silence.

“Sid,” Sid corrected him. “Call me Sid.”

Geno grinned. “Okay. Sid. Good night?”

“Yes,” Sid replied politely. He could hardly tell the prince that the whole idea of this night made him roll his eyes, or that he was planning to leave just as soon as they stopped talking. “It’s been a very nice night.”

Geno laughed. “You’re lying,” he said. “Looks like you don’t want to be here.”

“Of course I want to be here,” Sid replied, like he was reading his answer off note cards. “It was an honour to be invited.”

Geno laughed again. “You want to be here, sure,” he said. “Maybe like I want to be here.”

Despite himself, Sid grinned. “You’re not enjoying yourself?”

Geno shook his head, grimacing slightly. “Not exactly.”

“So why are you doing it?” Sid asked. He turned to face Geno properly, genuinely interested in his answer. He’d assumed that the Prince had welcomed the idea of having the richest, best looking boys in the world throwing themselves at him. He had never even considered the possibility that Geno would hate the whole thing.

Geno looked over to where his mother and father stood just outside the ballroom, keeping a subtle eye on everything while they chatted with the parents who were still yet to leave.

“Parents,” Geno said unhappily, by way of explanation. “Very pushy.”

Sid gave him a crooked, sympathetic smile. “So you really don’t want to be here,” he observed.

Geno shook his head miserably. “Rather be in Russia. See friends, play hockey.” He looked past Sid to where the snow was still falling gently outside the window. “But could be worse,” he admitted, echoing what his parents had been telling him since they’d left, and believing it for the first time. “Snow is good, at least.”

“You play hockey?” Sid asked, latching onto the topic. Hockey was something he could talk about.

“Little,” Geno shrugged. “Not much. Parents... don’t like it. You play?”

Sid grinned and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I play. In fact,” he said, his eyes lighting up as he had an idea. “You want to get out of here? Play a little one-on-one?” It didn’t count as enjoying himself, Sid rationalised, if he wasn’t enjoying himself _at_ the ball. Besides, Geno didn’t want to be there any more than he did. It would be unfair to leave him behind.

“Leave?” Geno’s forehead creased as he thought about the offer.

“Yeah,” Sid said. “Why not?” He gave Geno a sly smile. “Unless you want to stay here and meet all your potential future boyfriends,” he teased. “Any of them caught your eye?” He was surprised how interested he was in Geno’s answer.

“No,” Geno said firmly. “All of them, same. Boring.”

“All of them?” Sid asked, more than a little disappointed.

Geno shrugged, a little pleased at the badly hidden disappointment on Sid’s face. If he was disappointed, that meant he was interested. Or so Geno hoped.

“Yes,” he said. “All of them.” He waited a while before continuing. “But not you,” he said. “You different.”

Sid smiled, trying to hide how relieved he was. He felt himself going red beneath Geno’s stare, and he was more convinced than ever that tonight had definitely not been a waste of time.

“So?” he said. “You wanna sneak out?” Briefly, he wondered whether taking the Prince of Russia out to play hockey at this time was a good idea, but the longer he looked at Geno, the less he found himself caring.

Geno stared out of the window again, focusing more on the sky than the snow this time.

“Maybe,” he began slowly. “Maybe too dark to play hockey.” His heart pulsed as Sid’s face fell slightly. “But maybe,” he added quickly. “Not too dark to skate?”

He looked at Sid hopefully, and Sid gave him a crooked grin in return. Geno was more convinced than ever that he’d made the right decision in sitting down beside Sidney Crosby.

“It’s never too dark to skate,” Sid told him, standing. “Come on. I know a place.”

“Uh.” Geno looked over to where his parents were watching him curiously, and realised all at once that leaving the party would be more difficult than he’d counted on.

Sid looked between Geno and the King and Queen, who were staring at them like they were underneath a microscope. It took him a while to realise that Geno was speaking.

“What?”

Geno laughed, amused at Sid’s absentness. “You drove here?” he repeated, watching Sid for his answer. He wouldn’t let his parents put him off this.

Sid nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Geno said, nodding. “Okay. You go get car, and I’m meet you outside.”

“Sure,” Sid grinned.

“Front of house,” Geno said. “Five minutes.”

Sid’s grin widened. “See you soon,” he said, before making his way towards the doorway, ignoring the looks that were being thrown at him.

Geno waited until he could no longer see Sid, before he headed towards the door himself. As he’d expected, his mother stopped him before he could make it too far.

“Evgeni,” she said conversationally, like she didn’t suspect that he was trying to leave his own party. Which would be a lot easier to convince her of if he hadn’t, in fact, left every party on the tour. That was why his parents had been hanging around, making sure that he wasn’t leaving before everyone had had a chance to throw themselves at him. “Going somewhere?”

“Bathroom,” Geno said gruffly.

Natalia narrowed her eyes. “You will not leave this party, Evgeni,” she warned. “The Canadians are nice. Get to know them.”

“Of course,” Geno said, sweeping down to kiss her cheek reassuringly. “But bathroom first.”

“Fine,” Natalia said. “But he will go with you,” she said, nodding towards one of the nearby attendants. “Make sure you come back.”

“Mother,” Geno said, exasperated, but the Queen was not to be argued with, and he was wasting time. He sighed dramatically. “Fine,” he said, turning and bounding up the stairs without another word, the attendant following close behind. He was just thankful that nobody had questioned why he couldn’t have used one of the other bathrooms, rather than the one in his room.

Luckily for him, the attendant waited outside of his bedroom, giving him his privacy. Unluckily, there was no way that he would make it to the front door without being seen, especially not with his skates slung over his shoulder. He knew he’d been optimistic in packing them, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave them behind. He was glad that his optimism was finally paying off.

There was only one way for him to leave the house. He crossed the room quietly and opened the glass doors, stepping out onto the small balcony. He peered out over the edge, checking to make sure that there was nobody out there. At the sight of the empty yard, he tossed his skates gently down to the snowy ground. With a sigh, he swung his legs over the railing and reached out to grab the closest window ledge. He shuffled along the windows until he was close enough to jump over to one of the trees.

It had definitely been longer than five minutes, he thought, as he climbed down. He hoped Sid was still waiting. He ran over to collect his skates as soon as his feet were on the ground, returning them to their place over his shoulder as he snuck around the side of the house. There was a car idling out the front, where he’d told Sid to meet him. He looked towards the front door, where the security were watching the car suspiciously. It would be a matter of seconds between when they saw him and his mother finding out that he was leaving. He hoped Sid drove fast.

* * *

 

Sid sat in his car, wondering whether Geno was actually coming. It had been seven minutes – not that he was counting, and the security by the front door had been staring at him the whole time. He supposed he understood why. He didn’t give it long before one of them came over to tell him that he had to move. Again.

He flicked his eyes up to the rear view mirror. He thought he’d seen something moving. He was right – Geno was crouched around the corner of the house, apparently looking for an opportunity when the guards weren’t looking so he could make a run for it. Considering by now they probably thought that Sid was a danger to the royal family, he didn’t see them looking away any time soon. He leant over and opened the passenger door, hoping that Geno would get the hint. He did.

Geno straightened up and started running, heading straight for the car. He slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door closed behind him, buckling his seatbelt as the guards began to shout.

“About time,” Sid teased, putting the car into gear and racing off.

Geno dropped his skates down by his feet and grinned over at Sid.

“Let’s skate,” he said, leaning back against the headrest happily.

**Author's Note:**

> I really suck at Russian anything so I wasn't even going to try and attempt to incorporate it so I'm sorry if the whole broken English thing sucks a lot omg
> 
> also if you enjoy this kinda gay nerd content please consider [buying me a coffee!](http://ko-fi.com/A507ZD8)


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